Independent Love
by Nyx-Alia
Summary: An argument over independence leads to a feud between Neo and Trinity, but when a source inside of the matrix puts Neo in danger, Trinity must intervene. Is their love strong enough to survive the challenge? (Chapta 4 up)
1. Fighting Over Independence

Independent Love  
  
A/N: It's set kind of between the matrix 1 and reloaded, but there maybe a few things out of place. Reviews would be nice. Disclaimer: I don't own Neo, Trinity, or any of the characters off the matrix; they belong to their respectful owners. I do own Rosie, and any other characters I make up in the next few chapters. Rating: Um...PG-13 just to play it safe. Summary: An argument over independence leads to a feud between Neo and Trinity, but when a source inside of the matrix puts Neo and the whole of Zion in danger, Trinity must intervene. Is their love strong enough to survive the challenge? Or will the whole of Zion fall?  
  
Chapter 1  
  
Trinity sat hunched up in Link's operator chair, hands folded over her knees and staring intently at the screen. A mixture of worry and anger swirled in her eyes. Neo was in the matrix, she could see his leather clad figure walking briskly through the dusty streets. Usually the sight of Neo was quite welcoming, but at the moment, all she could summon was annoyance. She was sick of being left out of things, sick of having to watch and worry about Neo as he fought off agents inside the matrix, sick of being forced to stay put because he thought it was too dangerous for her...him and his nightmares...  
  
With a small sigh, she dropped her gaze to the steel floor, slightly ashamed to be thinking about Neo that way, But not sorry. It really was driving her mad, although she hadn't dared to show it, she had too much respect for him. But nevertheless, she decided that she had to talk to him about it. They both knew very well that she was totally competent of handling herself in the matrix, and just because they were in a tight relationship, it couldn't stop her being independent and being completely able to look after herself. She'd just have to speak to him.  
  
Unraveling herself from the chair, she jumped lightly to the ground and glanced at the screen for a last time. She watched as Neo requested an exit, and Link took over, speaking easily into the headset. Sighing again, she turned and set off for hers and Neo's joint cabin before he could awaken and follow her. She needed some time to think.  
  
**********  
  
Rosie sat at her tiny computer desk, typing away furiously. Her dark blue eyes glowed manically as she hacked away at the system. Information automatically saved itself to an MP3 like device attached via USB cord to her computer. Information about the matrix, information about the different ships, and information about Neo, the so- called 'one'.  
  
She had found out about 'the matrix' through an ex- boyfriend of hers. Although once convinced he was absolutely mad, after the shocking news that he had died of an unknown cause, Rosie had forced herself to delve into information about his crazy obsession.  
  
It had dragged her under, it was shocking, and it scared her half to death. But she didn't care. As far as Rosie was concerned, David had been killed by those idiot rebels in the 'real' world, and she would do anything to repay them for what they did to him. Anything. She hated them to death. She would find away to get them back. Once and for all...  
  
***********  
  
Cold tension swam in the air of Neo and Trinity's small steel cabin. Trinity's usually pale cheeks were flushed slightly, and she stood in defensive stance, arms folded across her chest and blue eyes blazing. Neo stood, watching her from only a few feet away, his dark eyes shining with hurt. The look on his face did nothing to deter her from the icy glare she was giving him however, so he just sighed and sat down heavily on the small cot that was bolted to the iron wall.  
  
Silence filled the room again, and a sudden sadness overtook the annoyance in the pit of Trinity's stomach. With a sigh, she sat down next to Neo on the metal cot.  
  
"Look-"She started, before Neo cut her off. "No Trinity, don't apologize...I just...I don't want you to get hurt" Trinity closed her eyes tightly, frustration swirling around inside her head. "Neo, I'm not a child, I can take care of myself-" "I know, but-" A faint growl escaped her throat. "But Nothing Neo! But nothing! I am not a child; I am not yours to keep under constant surveillance, If this relationship is going to work, you need to treat me equal, not as if I'm some rebellious teenager who just wants to get into trouble all the time. I am NOT going to put up with this anymore, I swear to god, you can just go to hell if you think your going to keep me out of the matrix, or out of doing anything I bloody well want to do."  
  
A shockwave seemed to have run through the entire room, Neo sat staring at Trinity as if she'd just slapped him across the face, and she stood in the middle of the cabin, fists clenched and entire body trembling.  
  
Tears burned at the back of her eyes, and she swiped at them furiously, not sure whether to let the silence drag on, or walk out.  
  
In the end she chose option two, her boots sounding about five times as loud on the steel floor as they normally did, and the door sounding hollow as she shut it silently.  
  
With no idea where to go, she wandered aimlessly up the corridor, feeling her way through the haze that surrounded her body and mind. She stopped outside what was Neo's cabin before they had started sharing hers, and pushed the door open. It was just as she remembered it, just the same as every other cabin.  
  
Her eyes hazing over, she collapsed on the bare mattress, curled up, and cried.  
  
**********  
  
A/N: Well that's the end of chapter one. Sorry it's short, and sorry it's not very good. I'm kinda stressing at the moment. Reviews would be nice :) I don't know whether to continue or not.  
  
Luv, Nyx-Alia. 


	2. Reflections And Destruction

A/N: Thanks heaps to the people who reviewed the first chapter of this fic, you have no idea how much I love you! (And I don't mean that in a scary stalker way :P) But really, I am really really grateful :)  
  
Chapter 2  
  
Darkness swirled around the two separate cabins that Neo and Trinity were accommodated in. They both lay awake, both staring at the ceiling, and both pondering over what had just happened.  
  
Neo was attempting to grasp any anger he could summon at the fresh memory of her harsh words, but could find none. All that he could feel was a kind of hollow sadness, and cold...it was freezing without her here. Sighing, he rolled over onto his side. 'What the hell is the point', he asked himself silently, attempting and failing to gather more warmth from the threadbare blankets. There was no point, not without her...but he couldn't exactly go and apologize, because it was her who had yelled at him. He wanted to make it right...but he just couldn't bring himself to go and do it.  
  
A similar feeling of hopeless regret churned inside of Trinity's stomach, but also anger. Maybe the anger was artificial, but it stopped her from crawling out of her cot and apologizing for what she'd said. It was stupid she knew, but all these new emotions caused by him...they were overwhelming... Closing her eyes again, she grasped the blanket tightly around her shoulders, and attempted to sleep.  
  
********  
  
It was already 3 am, but Rosie wasn't ready to sleep yet. It felt good not having anyone bossing her around, telling her what to do all the time. She was so glad when she'd turned 18, and even gladder when she moved out halfway through the year. Living on her own was fun, in a lonerish kind of way.  
  
The computer monitor shone in the gloom of her bedroom, humming softly as it processed information. She was almost sure she had it this time. William, an old friend of hers, had helped her process a chip. He said that if you implanted the information into somebody's brain, they would lose their memory. He said it was kind of like formatting the mind. Rosie had played on the idea of the chip, and decided she liked...no loved, the idea. It was perfect, it was ingenious, it was going to work...it had to.  
  
She jumped slightly when her screen flashed black, then white, then black again. A screen came up. One she'd never seen before, and she just knew by instinct that this must be it. Fingers shaking violently, she snatched the chip off her desk and implanted it into a special makeshift disc drive next to the monitor. The information came up, as a file labeled 'memlos'. Rosie rather liked it, it sounded like a virus, a deadly destructive virus.  
  
Grinning like crazy, Rosie shakily selected a few files until she found one with all the information that each crewmember knew inside of the matrix. She was required to input a password as she clicked over his...Neo's...name. Luckily William had prepared her for this, and she passed over it without any trouble.  
  
'Now to finalize it', she murmured quietly to herself, eyes gleaming coldly as she dragged the 'memlos' file into Neo's information.  
  
Nothing happened. It just sat there among the rest of the files, just like normal. But then a few seconds later, her screen went blank. Just like that. Totally blank.  
  
Adrenaline surged through her veins, and she backed away from the computer slowly. Everything had gone exactly to plan...now she just had to call William and tell him.  
  
********  
  
A/N: Rosie is an evil bitch. I have ideas, many ideas, for this...this morning I felt totally hopeless, like I would never ever finish this chapter...but I have hahaha...^_^  
  
So, I hope you like it. Its not as good as some of the fics on this site, but I try you know.  
  
I'll be off to school tomorrow, wish me luck.  
  
Luv, Nyx 


	3. Memory Blank

Chapter 3.  
  
A violent tremor ran through the mechanics of the Neb, causing all the crew to jolt into consciousness. Morpheus and Link were the first to reach the core of the ship, followed closely by Neo and Trinity, who came through opposite doors.  
  
Raising his eyebrows slightly at the pair, Link started tapping away at a keyboard. The red emergency light was flashing readily, but there was no sign of sentinels or anything remotely dangerous. Link frowned, "Well the code is fine, and there's no squiddies, but maybe someone should go into the matrix and check." Morpheus turned slightly and nodded at Neo, "You go".  
  
Neo climbed into the chair without argument, and gently closed his eyes as Link jacked him in. Trinity stood looking impassive, arms folded across her chest. Link raised his eyebrows at her, "You two had a fight or something?" She just shook her head and sighed, "Its nothing".  
  
Suddenly the mechanics jolted violently again, causing Morpheus, Link and Trinity to stumble backwards. "What the..." "What's going on?" Link swiftly regained his balance at stared into the monitor, a look of confusion spreading over his face. "Neo? Neo? Are you okay?" He demanded into the headset, worry setting into his eyes. Morpheus and Trinity stared into the screen as well, watching. Neo stood on the street, seemingly dumbfounded. He was looking at his hands and pulling at his clothes. He looked...lost somehow.  
  
Trinity's brow furrowed with confusion, "Jack me in, I want to see what's wrong with him".  
  
Link loaded her up and pushed the needle into the back of her neck, but nothing happened. He frowned and pulled it out again. "What the hell is going on?" She demanded "It...it's not working" "Why not?" "I don't know"  
  
Morpheus stared at the screens and shook his head, "You can't get in when the emergency signals are on". "But then how did Neo get in?" she asked quietly "I...don't know".  
  
Shocked silence followed his words. It was very seldom that Morpheus didn't know what was going on, unless the problem was deadly serious.  
  
*********  
  
Rosie walked quietly along the sun-illuminated sidewalks, down numerous streets and across a few backyards. She was dressed in black slacks and a white blouse, immaculately forgettable clothing. Her dark blonde hair was down and blowing in her face, she looked like a perfectly normal, forgettable citizen, and that was the way she liked it.  
  
William had given her the street address that he...Neo...was supposed to be appearing in, but she wasn't exactly all that great at reading maps, so she was already late.  
  
Finally stumbling onto the correct street, she quickened her pace, hoping like hell that he hadn't wandered off already. Her hopes were confirmed when she rounded the corner to find him standing in the middle of the square. It was obvious to her who he was, thanks to the many pictures of him that had 'magically' appeared on the Internet. Probably courtesy of those...'agent'...things that David had told her about.  
  
Carefully, she approached. He caught site of her only when she was in a few feet of him, and jumped visibly.  
  
Smiling pleasantly, she held out her hand, "Hi...I'm Rosie."  
  
*********  
  
A/N: Don't know when I'll get time to write the next chapter, I'm in school for the next ten weeks... I'll try update on the weekends and thank you so much to people who read and review :)  
  
Oh, and sorry if I make grammatical or spelling mistakes, I usually overlook it a bit, please forgive me.  
  
Luv yaz, Nyx. 


	4. Out Of Place

Chapter 4  
  
Neo's dark eyes searched blankly around the soft peach walls of Rosie's high-rise apartment. It was quite nice, he supposed...very neat...but somehow it seemed out of place.  
  
There had been a guy in the apartment when they had arrived, sitting neatly on a chair by the front door...almost as if he had been waiting for them. He introduced himself as William, giving him a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes, and ushering him quickly to sit down.  
  
A door on his left was pushed open, and Rosie slid out of it coolly, holding fast to two mugs of steaming hot liquid. She smiled and sat down, handing William one of the mugs.  
  
"Now, I take it you don't know who you are?" She asked him softly, her movements too precise and her tone too sweet. Neo shook his head. "No, no idea" "Very well then...I suppose we should make an effort to find out, but we need something to call you in the meantime...how about...John? As in John doe?" She smiled sweetly again and took a tiny sip of whatever was in her mug. "Neo frowned. There was nothing wrong with the name, but it didn't seem to fit." "How about...Thomas" He replied calmly. Somehow the name seemed familiar. Rosie shrugged, "I don't see the harm in it..." she murmured to William, who had been sitting silently at her side for the past few minutes. William just nodded, "Whatever you like Rosie" And so with another sickly sweet smile, she nodded to Neo. "Okay, your name is Thomas now."  
  
********  
  
Trinity paced furiously in front of the monitors, her blue eyes shining with indescribable frustration and anger. Of course the matrix code had shown that...girl take Neo back to her apartment, but they didn't know what was being said. The emergency light was still flashing, but had started to calm down a little bit. The crew was just waiting for it to stop so they could go in and rescue Neo.  
  
"This is ridiculous" Hissed Trinity, trying in vain to keep her emotions under control, but failing to succeed. Morpheus nodded "Yes Trinity, incredibly ridiculous...there must be something wrong with the systems...Link? Have you checked the programming?" He nodded briskly "Yes sir" "Well check it again" "Yes Sir" *********  
  
Neo lay awake in the pitch-blackness, clutching at the warm white duvet that he was curled up in. He had been in a bit of a daze for the past few hours, but now he was wide-awake and fully aware that this was definitely not right. What the hell had happened? Who was he? Questions swirled around in his head like trapped and frantic butterflies, crashing into the sides and giving him one hell of a headache.  
  
Groaning softly to himself, he rolled over and buried his head into the soft white pillows, trying to banish the throbbing in his brain.  
  
There was something wrong about Rosie...or not quite wrong, but something totally out of place. As if she was...fake somehow, or made of plastic...maybe programmed. Definitely something strange about that guy William as well, he was just too quiet...and too observant...it was slightly unnerving.  
  
Gripping the blankets more tightly around his body, Neo curled onto his side and closed his eyes against the compelling darkness.  
  
*******  
  
Flash, Flash, Flash...the red light continued to illuminate the steel equipment around the monitors. Suddenly, the flashing stopped, causing Trinity to jump slightly. Half grinning, Link emerged holding a plug in his hand. "Wish I'd have thought of this before" Climbing quickly into one of the chairs, she nodded grimly to Morpheus and Link. "I'm going in"  
  
********  
  
A/N: Hope you like this chapter more than I do!!! Been busy with school lately...might be awhile til I can write the next chapter... Luv, Nyx. 


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